Attempt to rob gold smuggler at Bangalore airport goes awry, 11 arrested

The man behind the smuggling racket was identified as Mohammed Kittur a resident of Bangalore.

According to the airport police they received a complaint about a robbery case on September 29 from one Arun Kumar of Yeshwanthapura in north Bangalore where it was stated that Kumar and his friend Harish were at the Bangalore International Airport on the night of September 28 to receive Mohammed Kittur who was arriving from Singapore.

According to Kumar’s complaint he was kidnapped and robbed of two laptops and Rs 15,000 in cash by two men posing as policemen who stopped his car outside the airport while he was returning to Bangalore after receiving Kittur at the airport.

Kumar told the police in his complaint that he, Kittur and a friend Harish were abandoned near Bidadi on the outskirts of Bangalore following the robbery. Investigations however revealed that the robbery was committed by a gang acting on the instructions of the complainant Arun Kumar.

The airport police in their investigations found that it was Arun and Harish who had arrived from Singapore carrying eight gold biscuits on the instructions of Mohammed Kittur. They managed to evade customs and were received by Kittur outside the airport.

However, while they were exiting the airport area in a car they were allegedly ambushed by a gang posing as policemen. The gang was allegedly asked to be at the airport by Arun Kumar. They robbed Kumar and his associates of the eight gold biscuits in their possession.

The next morning the trio decided to file a police complaint about the robbery but decided to hide the fact that they were carrying gold biscuits. They complained that their laptop and money was stolen by the gang that posed as policemen.

During investigations the police found that Mohammed Kittur had not travelled to Singapore. CCTV footage at the airport showed that it was Arun and Harish who returned to the city on the night of September 28. Finding the case fishy the police interrogated the trio separately and found each of them narrating different versions of the incident.

The investigation found that the vehicle used for the robbery was belonged to Sandeep of Mariyappana Palya near Jnanabharathi. Police secured him and learned about Arun Kumar’s plot to rob the smuggled gold to cheat Kittur.

The police recovered 800 gram gold biscuits and Rs 2.4 lakh cash from the gang. The police also arrested Mohammed Kittur in the smuggling case. “We have already arrested 11 persons including Mohammed in connection with robbery and gold smuggling cases. One more person is absconding in the case and efforts are on to nab him,” a police officer said.

The accused persons are identified as Mohammed Kittur, Arun Kumar, Harish, Mohammed Masood, Sandeep, Santosh, Puneeth, Dwarakanath, Ramamurthy. Police said that Santosh and Dwarakanath were posed as fake policemen during the robbery.